ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605200101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JON CAWLEY STAFF WRITER
A teacher at Floyd County Vocational School was diagnosed Friday with the central nervous system type of meningitis.
The teacher began feeling sick Thursday and was diagnosed with the relatively rare and potentially fatal illness at North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem the following day, said Dr. Jody Hershey, director of the New River Health District.
"We aren't sure how she caught the virus, but she is being administered antibiotics and is doing very well," Hershey said.
Doctors are not releasing the teacher's name because it is believed everyone she had contact with has been identified and is receiving precautionary treatment.
The contagious form of meningitis is spread through direct personal contact with an infected person. Being in the same classroom or a social situation with the person is not considered dangerous
"The risk of becoming sick from the infection is extremely low," Hershey said, "The rate of carriers or people who have contracted the infection but are not sick runs about 25 percent."
Symptoms include fever, severe headache, stiff neck, nausea or vomiting, sleeplessness, confusion and skin rashes.
"These symptoms may appear two to 10 days after exposure, but usually occur within five days," Hershey said.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB